screenshot 404'd! I play MageKnight404's FE7 hack

[Acacia Sgt]

Wait...

*checks*

... ah, I can't unsee it now! lol

I think what makes it worse(?) to me is that the mustache (and Pascal's hair color) makes the resemblance more to Bright's appearance in Hathaway's Flash, where... yeah.

Edited November 10, 2016 by Acacia Sgt

[BBHood217]

Gotta admit, I'm not much of a Gundam guy so that went completely over me.

So had there been a proper Raymond mode, there would've been a Pascalslap too?

[BBHood217]

Chapter 16: Beowulf

Ack! Bar!

...okay, it's gone.

Let's storm a castle.

Half of Caelin's forces fell to the surprise attack.

With the remaining most likely taken as prisoners.

Time to save them.

I'm sure you all know why Raph's coming along.

Augury is unedited.

Except oddly for that part. It was the same with the previous map's augury. Starting to think that "hammer" being find/replaced with "broadsword" is the extent of the edits on the auguries.

And go.

I do too, because I'll get rewarded for it.

A couple of enemies have door keys but don't drop them.

Yeah, show them the might of Caelin!

Let's wrap this up.

I do wonder who she is and when do I get her? Or fight her?

Over at a prison cell...

...is the reason for this chapter's title.

He's somehow ended up as their prisoner.

And they intend to make good use of him, or else.

She's also locked up too.

No, there's no explanation for how they ended up there. They just did.

He slowly starts to make his way towards us. At least it'll make it easier to recruit him.

Kent makes better use of Glenn's special sword.

Karsh's spot might be in trouble.

When do I get a guiding ring?

A lot of trouble.

It's fine, the nomad only has a longbow.

There he is. Who recruits him?

Obviously not the guy who has actual character relations with him.

Nah, recruitment is still dictated by the character slots they occupy.

So here's "Priscilla" recruiting "Raven".

Raph overheard it from two people talking about him. One was Raymond, and the other...

...is very familiar to him.

Alas, Oswin and Raven don't interact and don't support with each other.

Kyosuke informs Raph of the other prisoners and proposes rescuing them using his preferred tactical strategy: By breaking through.

So here he is, piloting a different kind of suit.

With a personal weapon to match. No one else is getting it despite it not being Prf.

...holy cow, all those FE general gifs with Alteisen weapons suddenly make total sense now.

Those chests are mine.

One away from the speed cap.

Bleh.

Opposite of bleh.

Luna will have to wait, I need him down there.

Meanwhile, the soldiers decide to make their escape.

Oh, she's coming too?

The soldier still gives her the same items.

Ah, that makes sense.

Oh boy, I better hurry.

Not pictured: A tutorial box wondering why the game reminds you of the magic triangle again. Shut up, some people might've forgotten.

More later.

[BBHood217]

Chapter 16 part 2

We start looting. Wonder if this'll work on Raph.

Crud, here they come.

Oh look, exp for healers.

Which Tina are we talking about here?

You'd make a fine great knight if they existed in this game.

Here they come. I better step it up.

I make it just in time to plug up that hole.

Look how red it is.

Nice, though that magic's kinda low.

So much for going out along with them.

The backdoor reinforcements are taken care of.

And the cavs chat it up some more.

Still unedited, which just makes it look like they're wondering where Lyn is.

I'm telling you, she's with Hector.

After that chat, they go back to beating up shamen.

Okay, enough precision. I need power now.

The soldiers offer their help.

You can help by not helping.

I think this has Kyosuke's name on it.

Her skill finally catches up.

Weird, that enemy thief never showed up.

Kyosuke was too heavy to lift, so Altenna delivered the other way around.

Welcome back, Luna.

We start poking Bernard.

He pokes back, hard.

What doesn't kill you etc.

While that's going on...

...this looks weird.

Very weird.

Back at the fight, Linoan helps speed things along with a crit.

Allowing Eliwood to finish him.

A little heal...

And another support...

Completely unedited this time.

Didn't even bother changing her name.

...and we're done.

Blood on the throne makes them fear the worst.

But Leila the Ostian spy comes with good news: Helman's gonna make it.

Linoan picks a god and prays a thanks to him.

With the battle over, Leila divulges her findings to Eliwood.

Dad's alive.

For now.

The Black Fang was once noble, then they changed when someone came along.

Grandbell may or may not be behind them.

So Elbert and the Black Fang, where are they all now?

And that's where Eliwood's going next.

Nothing different here. Leila's going back to spy on the Fang some more.

We get our reward.

And our side chapter.

[spiritomb108]

So welcome to Kyosuke, the most broken POS in this game.

I would ask Ray why, but Kyosuke's great, so I'm not complaining.

[Mage Knight 404]

So had there been a proper Raymond mode, there would've been a Pascalslap too?

Almost certainly.

Edited November 10, 2016 by Mage Knight 404

[spiritomb108]

...Fair point.

[Acacia Sgt]

Kyosuke is great. Then again, I think that of most SRW related stuff.

[Miacis]

Which Tina are we talking about here?

Probably the one from Thracia 776, seeing as it's one of her personal staves.

I'm not sure why it's this color though.

[BBHood217]

Chapter 16x: Brawl At Badon

We could've just not done the side chapter and gotten onto Fargus' ship with no issues at all.

But where's the fun in that?

Like in the original, no one wants to sail to Valor. Except perhaps the pirates.

Like the character she replaced, Linoan has issues with them.

But it seems contrived in this case. Still, gotta have her follow the script somehow.

Were there no friendly pirates in Jugdral?

The two admire Linoan as she wanders off to cool her head.

Then it's back to business.

Fargus will take them there.

...for a very steep price.

We could wait for New SMB 2 to be released, that game just dumps so much gold on you.

But Eliwood opts to stick to his own franchise and raise the gold natively.

Why, is it a crime?

I'll waste a thousand turns if I have to.

Yawn, never cared for ratings. Ratings don't level up my units.

See? Eli agrees with me. To the arena!

But an acquaintance of Kid cuts us off.

Damn.

She mentions that Fargus has proposed an alternative.

That probably won't lead anywhere, but who knows.

And with that, she runs off.

It's like you don't want the free exp.

At least Eliwood wants it.

As Steena's not part of Fargus' crew, Ratface here provides Dart's dialogue.

With her head cooled off enough, Linoan rejoins the group.

Eliwood quickly brings her up to speed.

And we assemble our motley crew.

Among the enemies is this one particular unit. I'm pretty sure we all already know what her purpose here is.

Nah, we're still stocked up fine.

So, did you find Alex?

Guess not. I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think he'll show up later.

Mel definitely won't.

So to start, let's have Ray recruit one of his own.

Not Canas, but still a shaman.

He wants to go to Valor in search of his father. Seeing as they share destinations, he tags along.

Time will tell if he'll become a slayer of snowstorms like the original.

So, how do we get to Fargus?

The only way Kyosuke knows how: By breaking through.

She's still Anna, but I already knew that from the times I suspended this game.

Oh dear, I should've cast Strike first.

Oops, Altenna crossed the line.

The nomad's taken care of, but now the other overpowered enemies are coming.

That's a pretty great level up.

It'd be a shame if something were to happen to it.

Luckily it's Eliwood mode so he doesn't charge in just yet. Unlike the other enemies on the move.

I need a plan...

[BBHood217]

Chapter 16x part 2

I've finally come up with a plan.

It's called "throw Sanger at them".

Best plan ever.

See? The pirates go down easily.

But the mages are kind of a problem.

Her purpose is fulfilled. I'll spare you all the grisly aftermath.

Ray's luck and bromance negates the luna crit.

Even more precision.

That's the mages taken care of.

Let's grab more loot.

Nah, I got this.

This is strictly for wexp training only, and only against walls and snags.

This pirate's a chump compared to the high leveled ones we just beat.

With no Lyn, who's gonna get this now? Who else needs bow training...?

And that's all the pirates beaten.

Kyosuke will get doubled, so Altenna's gonna tank.

He thinks no one will be crazy enough to attack him and see his edited dialogue.

He doesn't crit, she does. Best outcome.

And Sakura finishes him off.

Now Kyosuke can tank.

And gets tankier for it.

The enemy troub doesn't do any healing, even though she has a physic staff.

The girls take out the two horses.

Another village.

Another heal.

And that's all the villages.

Luna puts the troub out of her misery.

A word of warning about the arena before we dive into it.

We need to be careful around her.

She really has no reason to attack us other than "she's Dart's replacement".

All the enemies are dead and all the houses are looted. Time to grind.

This seems scary.

But archers actually have the best odds in the arena as they're matched up with only mages and other archers.

So the arena's the best place to level up an archer.

Which I liberally do.

Kyosuke also joins in on occasion.

But a couple of bets go badly. Stupid silver sword myrmidons.

Mia also profits from patching up the arena participants.

I'll have to compare her to Bugeyes later.

This time, it was a steel axe fighter. Knights just have a bad time in the arena.

At least only gold was all I lost.

After earning 10000 gold or so, I finally call it quits.

And Luna pokes Steena for one last level up. Don't worry, she's still alive.

Now I really need a guiding ring, badly.

From arena grinding to support grinding.

I decided that Luna and Kyosuke look cute together. Raph will just have to instead bro it up with whoever's replacing Heath.

And Eliwood claims his waifu. Sorry, Ray.

The unedited dialogue makes it look like Linoan's having an identity crisis.

Eliwood sees beyond the replacement. He reaches out for her...

And somehow manages to bring back the spirit of Lyn. Her character is now some pink-haired magic user, but Lyn's finally back in her own character slot once again.

Eliwood and Lyn, together once again.

I can't ask for a happier ending.

The challenge is won, so Fargus will take Eliwood to Valor.

Lynoan still distrusts the pirates, but puts it aside for the group.

And we're on our way.

Next time: We're on a boat!

[spiritomb108]

Hiiii filler unit~

I will say that I actually love Lyn's Lord class, both Lord and Blade Lord, and seeing it used in non-standard ways makes me squee internally.

[Miacis]

You sure do love Lyn, eh?

Were there no friendly pirates in Jugdral?

Nope. Marty (and Dagdar before he promoted) were bandits in FE5, but that's about it.

Tahra isn't even anywhere near the coast, and it's not like "one of our lords dislikes pirates" changes the flow of the story there, so I'm not sure why this was shoehorned into her character development. Eh, filler chapter, filler dialogue, I suppose.

Edited November 11, 2016 by Miacis

[Acacia Sgt]

Nope. Marty (and Dagdar before he promoted) were bandits in FE5, but that's about it.

Lifis might be a more suitable candidate (in occupation if not in class), since at least his base of operation was on an island. On the other hand, I wouldn't say he was the friendly sort. More like pragmatic friendly, maybe.

That said, Thraccia776 sure has you joining up with bandits and the like, which makes sense since before Tahra you are pretty much on the run from the Empire. There was also Pahn, another bandit leader, that could join you. On the other hand, by the time Linoan joins I think you've long stopped recruiting bandit people for the most part, who don't get story relevance anyway beyond their joining chapters.

Edited November 11, 2016 by Acacia Sgt

[BBHood217]

Chapter 17: Set Sail

The narration starts with references.

That rebellion stuff will eventually become irrelevant anyway. Just ask General Banzai.

I'd call this stupid, but I made a similar joke last chapter so I'm one to talk.

Look, I can make references too. Eliwood sets sail for One Piece.

And by "One Piece", I mean "the Dragon's Gate".

Fargus checks in on his passengers.

Basically, because it's there.

Fargus thought he's seen it all, but the younger generation shows him that he still has much to learn.

Just a reminder that Steena's still there. I'm honestly not sure why she's also going to Valor.

Maybe it'll be explained when I get her.

Ominous...

Eliwood follows Fargus and that's-a-pirate-and-not-Steena to the main deck.

There, Eliwood assures Ray that Fargus is legit.

They bring the passenger aboard.

Has someone tried to make Ratface Emblem yet? Because if not, I think it's long overdue.

The passenger turns out to be Ninian.

Who seems to be having memory problems.

And people in pursuit of her.

Fargus can solo them easily.

But he's needed elsewhere.

Leaving it to Eliwood to do the fighting.

And Ray to do the referencing.

He'll be back after exactly 11 turns.

Time for naval warfare.

Here are the participants. There's a guiding ring in this map, so Mia's coming too.

And here's something I forgot to show off last time. Brigands still promote with hero crests like in FE6.

Here's where we start.

And here are the shops. All I need are the tomes.

Don't worry, you're going to the ship where all the physical enemies are.

Jake's still Jake, and still refers to the shops that I already previewed.

A couple of enemies have pure water that they won't drop, so yoink.

Edmond gets ready to magic tank.

And Matthew is brought out of harm's way.

Leaving all the mages and one archer to attack only him.

Not a bad start.

The other hole is plugged with Kyosuke.

The magic users get blessed.

Got it. Now to get Mia over there.

Yoink again.

While Kyo keeps tanking...

Luna chats with him.

If I were to write an actual support for these two, I might write something about how Luna's slowly falling for Kyosuke's bad boy attitude.

It's time.

She doesn't get back her psynergy, just light magic.

And actually, anima magic too. That's a nice surprise.

Also, she's now permanently off staff duty. I doubt there are S-rank staffs in this hack.

Other than the boss, this is already the only enemy left.

Altenna profits off of him.

Three turns of nothing later...

More reinforcements finally show up.

Let's look at the boss as we make our way to him.

He's now a druid instead of a shaman, and druids can now use anima magic too like in FE8. There's something for Edmond to look forward to.

I think Ray likes magic as much as I do.

I'll be taking that.

A couple of pegs show up, but Altenna easily dispatches them.

Y'know, you're basically Nino if you got her early in the game.

The divine seems a lot more fiery than I remember.

These bosses are already shallow in characterization.

But these edits somehow make them even more one-dimensional.

This guy's definitely a keeper.

Only one turn left, and sadly this lone enemy is the only survivor.

The last turn is spent finishing off the boss. Luna's normally dangerous, but not when supports and decent luck completely negate its crit.

Hey, he might actually cap his skill.

With the boss dead, the map ends early. That myrm better start running.

Fargus thanks the whelps for fending off the enemies.

More Mario references.

My reaction to it is the same as Eliwood's here.

Ninian is still out of it.

But she still remembers the Dragon's Gate, and we're all already going there so we might as well take her along.

On Valor, Eliwood prepares for the dangerous journey ahead. Oh, and Steena's coming too I guess.

Especially the one made of rubber, that one's a nice kid.

The confrontation with the Black Fang draws near.

Next time: Someone dies.

[spiritomb108]

I don't believe there's an S rank staff, if there is I never found it.

Mia, when did your class change to let you use Mars Psynergy?

He's Meta! That's the Joke!

[Acacia Sgt]

No, there's not. S-ranking Staves in this game doesn't really give any sort of benefit. Except perhaps the S Rank Bonus for Accuracy with Status Staves, if it applies for Staves as well.

[Azure Sen]

Admittedly I may have missed her elsewhere, but does Shion actually do anything except show up in cutscenes occasionally?

[Acacia Sgt]

I'm pretty sure she remains an NPC through the whole hack.

So no, she never recovers her Mumbo Wumbo Shumbo. lol

Edited November 13, 2016 by Acacia Sgt

[wheelsonfire]

You're right about that. Shame, considering she's a very good fighter in the universe where she's actually from, but I guess her weapons would not work in a Fire Emblem universe.

For what it's worth, I do remember she gets some amusing cutscenes… XD

Edited November 13, 2016 by wheelsonfire

[Acacia Sgt]

You're right about that. Shame, considering she's a very good fighter in the universe where she's actually from, but I guess her weapons would not work in a Fire Emblem universe.

For what it's worth, I do remember she gets some amusing cutscenes… XD

Well, who knows.

The hack does use stand-ins. Like with Kyosuke's Rev(olver) Stake, which the real one is one of his mecha's weapons, and is not even close to a lance in function. But it's moot if Ray never planned her to be playable in the first place, anyway.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Acacia Sgt

[Azure Sen]

I was going to say "that makes sense, because this hack came out before Xenosaga III and thus before the M.W.S. basically became a big old sword" but no, Xenosaga III's older than this hack, so maybe there just wasn't a slot free for her.

[Mage Knight 404]

Incidentally, by the time I started working on FE404, I think I actually did start playing through Xenosaga Ep. III, and have known of what Shion could potentially do loooong before(in a roleplay I was running on the old Fire Emblem Sanctuary of Strategy forums, I was roleplaying as Shion); I was super fixated on the fact that she was a very... distinct fighter with her MWS, even if she did have sword training with her bro, so I never considered her at the time because that'd mean making a special animation for her. Nowadays I'd probably shuffle her into a Myrmidon role or related.

[BBHood217]

I've googled "xenosaga mws" and found out that MWS stood for "Multiple Weapon System", and that to me sounds like it'd be overpowered in an FE game. Like a weapon that's range 1-3 and has weapon advantage over all physical weapons, because multiple weapons or something. Possible drawbacks might be the inability to counter, or maybe it has major weapon disadvantage over all magic weapons. But none of that matters here where Shion doesn't fight at all. Still, I feel that such a cute face like hers shouldn't be wasted on an NPC-only role...

Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 18: Force Of The Fang

Not much to say. We get Ninian back.

And we've made landfall on Valor.

Deep within the island is the goal: The Dragon's Gate.

Let's take a peek there, shall we?

!

YOU!

You cost me a battle mastery!

That is Ingram, also from SRW like Kyosuke and Sanger. While his role is largely antagonistic, his motives are a little more complicated as he kind of travels between dimensions for mysterious balance-maintaining purposes.

Maybe he's just taking a break from all those giant robots to screw around in a medieval fantasy setting.

Back to the story, Elbert is determined to ruin Ingram's plans. He also attempts to reason with Darin, but it fails because of Ingram's trump card.

Us puny mortals can't imagine how dragons will bring balance to this universe.

Despite the setbacks, Ingram is still determined to acquire his much needed energy.

He sends Limstella to Bern,

puts Ephidel on exterminator duty,

and then taunts Elbert that his interference has stopped nothing.

He also promises him front row seats to the dragons' return.

Overhearing everything, Leila prepares to escape.

But she gets caught.

And is put to death by

..........

Welp, Jaffar's completely ruined.

After seeing... that, I've decided not to use him in this hack at all. Nino or whoever's replacing her is gonna get paired up with Edmond instead.

Back with our heroes, the island starts to get foggy.

Making the reveal more dramatic.

And tragic.

Ray knew it was coming, but is still mad about it regardless.

Matthew's also affected, but keeps calm for everyone's sake.

We're trying for a no-death run here, after all.

Suddenly, Ninian's precognitive powers kick in.

A Sacaean suddenly takes Lynoan hostage.

But Ninian is who he's really after.

Eliwood is filled with determination.

Being a man of honor, Uhai allows them to test their resolve.

This is the group that'll take part in that test.

Those two enemies up there have torches, the pirate with the regular kind that has to be stolen and the thief with the staff version.

Nope, still no explanation. She's coming with us just because.

I apologize, I just have no attachment to her. I want Dart back.

At least Matthew's back, and ready to get back to work.

This one's for you, Leila.

More later.

[BBHood217]

Chapter 18 part 2

Matthew grabs the torch.

And achieves maximum thief.

Altenna grabs the other torch.

And sends it to the convoy.

Allowing Lynoan to make immediate use of it.

Her promotion time draws near.

Oh yeah, you're here too.

Sorry, but I already have Sanger. He'll appreciate the wo dao, at least.

I have never used these things. And judging from the unedited text, neither does Ray I think.

Matthew lights the way.

And so does Lynoan, even leveling off of it. And hey, she's also reached maximum thief.

Kyo actually gets faster.

Everyone's getting faster!

And then Fiora's replacement shows up. Good thing she's a flier, because a non-flier would glitch the game here.

Marcia sees a kindred spirit.

And they quickly hit it off.

She seems to be the star of her own story elsewhere.

But we've got our own story to worry about here.

And she'll be joining it.

She does look promising.

Because my other one has turned out disappointing.

Luna's gonna love this.

Pirates have appeared behind us, but Ray can handle them.

Edmond gets a good level up.

And a new book too.

o hai uhai

He's dangerous, but less so with the longbow.

Lynoan's ready for physics now.

Edmond attempts to nosferatank.

Living the fantasy.

Sorry, but you're still inferior to Heather.

Edmond finally gets it right.

You're definitely not getting that fell contract.

There's still 5 more levels to cap those stats.

And dealing with the pirates leaves Ray tougher.

Luna engages Uhai in a longbow fight, which is risky as the longbow's weight gets her doubled.

But Kyosuke breaks through in the end.

Three gifts actually: Directions to the Dragon's Gate.

A sweet level up for Kyosuke.

And a gift for Luna.

Not all of the Fang are bad.

But they must still be stopped nonetheless.

Heather meets her creator.

And they chat it up a little before returning to the task at hand.

I hate it say it but I already have Altenna, so you can go warm the bench with Marcia.

.......

Y'know, the thought of Marcia and Heather together on a bench is... well, um... it's.....

...kinda hot.

Ah good, I finished the map fast enough.

Next time: Magic is banned.